Closet bowl and method of flushing same



G. BRAIN CLOSET BOWL AND MTHOD OF FLUSHING SAME Filed Feb. 26, 1934 2SheetS-Sheet l mm M E M u Qv mL mlrvfmvwl mm@ Tami/ TY Su wily 317,E934, G. BRAIN CLOSET BOWL AND METHOD OF FLUSHING SAME Filed Feb. 26,-1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR liti Patented July 17, 1934 i" ...nt

George Brain, Uhio, assigner to Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company,a corpora= tion ol New .Hersey applicants renom 2c, resi, sensi no.fiesta This invention relates to closet bowls and methods of :dashingthe saine; and this application is a continuation in part of mycopending application Serial No. 634,180, led September 2l, 1932.

An object of this invention is the provision of an emcient method of:dushing closet bowls.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of flushingcloset-bowls whereby fecal matter may be gathered towards the center ofthe bowl and into the trap without bringing the same into contactwith'the surface of the bowl.

A further object oi the invention is the provision oi a closet bowl thatshall be simple in construction, emcient, and quiet in operation, andmaterially decrease the risk ol loss during the process of manufacture.

A stili further object of the invention is the provision of a closetbowl in which siphonic action may be attained without a siphon jet, andin which substantially all ci the nushing water may be utilized forwashing the pan.

il. still further object el' the invention is the provision of a closetbowl in which substantially all of the flushing water may be deliveredto the pan. through the rim by means of a single valved passageconnecting the ilush tank and the in-= terior oi the rim.

a still further object of the invention is the provision of a closetbowl having means ior imparting a whirling spiral motion to the iushwater, for initiating siphonic action without einx1 ploylng a siphon jetand means for folding the water, as it swirls around the pan, anddumping it into the trap on top of any fecal matter that may have beendrawn into the same, and thereby push such matter through the Siphon andinto the soil line.

Other objects oi the invention will, in part, be apparent and will, inpart, be obvious from the folio description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a. top plan view of a ush tank and closet bowl embodying theinvention, the rim of the bowl being in section taken on line I-I oiFig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a View in section of the tank and bowl, taken on line II-lI ofFig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a developed view, in section, of the rim oi' the bowl, thesection being taken on lines -lII of Fig. 2.

Throughout the drawings and the specication, like reference charactersindicate like parts.

ln practicing the method ci nushlng closet bowls, in accordance withthis invention, jets of ushing water are delivered at predeterminedpoints around the periphery oi the bowl, at its top, and directed atsuch an angle that a spiral sheet of water is formed which travels roundthe surface of the pan and downwardly towards the trap. The swirlingVsheet of water thus formed, travels down the pan in a spiral directionwith centripetal motion completely washing the pan and gathering allfecal matter into a vortex which forms in the trap.

The method also includes the delivery of jets oi water fromthe rim intothe trap, in such direction, in relation to the up-leg of the Siphon,that an under-current or under-tow is established under the pan water inthe direction of and in the siphon lip-leg which initiates siphonicaction almost instantly after the ushing action is coenced. Thissiphonic action occurs be- Hiore the pan wash water is dumped into thetrap and also ushes a substantial part of the fecal matter before thedumping action takes place. The dumping of this spiral sheet ol Waterinto the trap completes the ushing action.

When the ushing action is commenced, the water level in the bowl or panrises slightly, but the moment siphonic action has been initiated. asabove described, the water in the center oi' the bowl drops perceptiblyinto the trap.

As the spiral sheet ol water, above mentioned, is set in motion, thecentripetal action thereof develops a whirling funnel-like formation olwater the vortex of which is disposed in the trap at the entrance to theup-leg or" the Siphon. Because of this motion of the water, fecalcontents in the bowl are drawn into the vortex and kept away from thesurface of the pan.

In order that the swirling body oi water travelling over the pan surfacemay be utilized to insure complete and positive ushing of the fecalcontents, that is, to edect complete removal thereof through the Siphonand into the soil line, the swirling water is obstructed and dumped intothe trap, by means of intersecting streams oi' water delivered at asuitable point or points to the surface of the pan at one side of the,jets which initiate slphonic action. The velocity and the weight of thewater, which is dumped on top of the vortex of water in the trap and theremaining fecal contents therein, causes such contents to be pushedinto, through and out of the up-leg of the Siphon.v 0n account o1 thesiphonic action which is going on, such contents will be conipletelywithdrawn from the trap of the bowl, the rip-leg ofthe Siphon, andejected into the soil line.

In delivering the Water to the bowl it is proposed to deliver it at ahigher rate than it is withdrawn, by siphonic action, so that thebenelits to be gained by the swirling funnel-like body of water washingover the pan of the bowl may be utilized to the fullest extent and sothat siphonic action may be maintained continuously without interruptionuntil the flushing operation has been completed.

The above-described method of flushing closet bowls may be applied tobowls having integral tanks or to bowls having separate or independenttanks, or to flush valve operated bowls. With either type, the water forflushing purposes is delivered through a single valved passage whichleads from the tank to the rim of the bowl.

In the drawings, a closet bowl 1 and a flushing tank 2 are shown. Thebowl and tank as illus- .trated, are formed integral with each other,although it is to be understood that the bowl and tank may beconstructed as separate or individual units. The bowl is provided at itstop with a continuous hollow rim 3 having an opening or port 4 at therear of the bowl which is connected by a passageway 5 to a port 6 formedin the bottom of the tank. Port 6 is controlled by a flushing valve 7 ofstandard construction. The tank 2 is supplied with water through theusual inlet supply pipe (not shown) and the filling of the tank isautomatically controlled, in the usual manner, by ball valve 8 and float9 which is connected to the valve actuating lever l0. The ball valve isprovided with a bypass or pipe 11 which supplies water to an overflow l2formed in one corner of the tank. The overflow is connected by apassageway 13 which is separate from the passage connecting the rim port4 to flushing valve 7. Water is supplied to the overflow when valve 8 isopened to insure that sufficient water will be delivered to the bowlafter it has been fiushed to form a water seal which prevents the escapeof sewer gases.

The bowl includes a trap 14 formed in the bottom thereof and a siphon 15comprising an upleg 16 and a down-leg 17. The down-leg terminates in aport 18 adapted to be connected to a soil pipe (not shown). Port 18 isoffset, with respect to the down-leg of the Siphon, by means of ahorizontal shelf or ledge 19 which causes the water that overflows theup-leg, when flushing water is delivered to the bowl, to pile up in thedown-leg until the same is full. When the down-leg is full, siphonicaction takes place in a manner well known in the art.

In order that the flush water delivered to the rim through port 4 may begiven a spiral centripetal motion and cause it to form the whirlingfunnel-like formation of water, referred to in the above-describedmethod, that travels as a sheet over the inner surface or pan of thebowl, the bottom of the rim is provided with a plurality of punchings oropenings adjacent the periphery of the bowl. These openings or punchingsare formed at such angles to the horizontal (see Fig. 3) that the waterdelivered to the pan through these openings will travel downwardly tothe pan in a spiral direction. g

The angle that these openings make with the horizontal may vary indifferent sections of the rim. For example, the openings or punchings 21formed in the rim between lines A-B in the direction of arrow C, may beequally spaced and disposed at an angle of, say 30 to the horizontal.From D to E a plurality of openings 22, are formed, and these openingsare so positioned that jets of water are delivered therefrom in thedirection of arrow F. These jets of water act to obstruct the whirlingsheet of water developed by the jets of water issuing from punchings 2l,fold the sheet under and dump or direct it into the trap. Continuingaround the rim in the direction of arrow C, a group 25 of openings 26and 27 is formed at the front of the bowl. These openings are preferablydisposed at 90 to the horizontal so as to cause streams of water to owstraight down the pan towards the trap and initiate siphonic action atthe beginning of the flushing action, i. e., as soon as water isdelivered to the rim by the opening of valve 7.

In order that the streams of water issuing from openings 26 and 27 maybe guided into the trap to effect the undertow or undercurrent reliedonto initiate siphonic action, spaced ribs 28 are formed at the front ofthe bowl. These ribs are preferably parallel to each other, eX- tendfrom rim 3 to the front edge of trap 14, and are positioned in alinementwith the pairs of openings 27. Thus the water issuing from openings 27is caused to ow down the sides of the ribs 28 while the water issuingfrom openings 26 is directed down the channel defined by these ribs andinto the trap. These Siphon-action producing streams are protectedagainst interference from the streams of water issuing from openings 21by the streams of water issuing from the group of openings 22. Toaccentuate the effectiveness of these siphonic-action producing streams,openings or punchings 26 are made larger in dameter than punchings oropenings 27 so that an ample supply of swiftly flowing water may bedirected into the pan to effect the necessary undercurrent, in the panwater and running toward and up the up-leg of the Siphon. This insuresthat siphonic action will start quickly and be well established beforethe body of pan water is dumped into the trap.

Continuing around the rim of the bowl in the direction of arrow C, agroup 29 of openings 30, 31 and 32 is formed. It is preferred that theseopenings be punched at different angleswith respect to each other and tothe other openings in the rim. These openings are inclined in suchdirection as to discharge streams of water in the same general directionas the streams discharged by openings 21 located on the same side of thebowl. The angular direction of these openings may vary, but in practiceI have found that if openings 30, 31 and 32 arepunched at angles of 60and 45 respectively, to the horizontal, satisfactory action is obtained.

When flush valve 7 is opened by means of a handle 33 and a lever 34connected to the valve, water flows from tank 2 through port 4 into therimv lling the same. The water issuing from openings 26 and 27 flowsdown ridges 28 and the groove between them into the trap causing anundercurrent which flows up the up-leg 16 of the siphon and immediatelyinitiates siphonic action. When siphonic action has started the water inthe pan recedes drawing with it fecal matter.

The water issuing fromI punchings or openings -30, 3l and 32, and thegroup of openings 21 extending from A to B cause a whirling funnel-likesheet of water to form which travels around the pan, in the direction ofarrow C, and downwardly towards the trap at which point the vortex ofthis body of water is formed. This swirling sheet of water gathers allremaining fecal matter and directs it into the vortex. As the watertravels around the pan from A. to B it is met with and obstructed by thestreams of water issuing from openings 22. These streams of water cutunder the swirling sheet of water and change its course, and in doing socauses it to fold under, pile up and spill or dump into the trap. Thedumping of such a large quantity of water into the trap pushes allremaining fecal matter through the Siphon into the soil line.

It is apparent by inspection-of the drawings that the dumping actionabove mentioned will occur after the siphonic action has been initiatedby the streams issuing from openings 26 and 27 because some time isrequired for the water to travel around the pan. For this reason, assubstantiated by actual operation ofthe bowl, from to 90% of the fecalmatter is removed by the Siphonic action which goes on before the wateris dumped into the trap to complete the hushing operation.

Since, as stated in the described method of flushing, the water isdelivered to the bowl at a higher rate than it can flow, out of the bowlthrough .the Siphon, there will be sufficient follow-up water tocontinue the siphonic action after the dumping operation,above-described, takes place, and insure complete and positive flushingof the bowl.

In order that water may be delivered to the bowl at a higher rate thanit is withdrawn therefrom through the siphon, the fiow area of thepassage leading from valve 7 to the rim port d is made larger than theow area of the Siphon: therefore, there will always be Sumcient head ofwater in the bowl to insure sustained siphonic action.

By utilizing an arrangement oi openings in the rim, as above described,siphonic action iS attained without the use of Siphon jets, and all theflush water is available as and utilized for washing purposes, becauseall of the water is delivered through the rim punchings.

Since all the punchings are in the rim, and no Siphon jets are present,the manufacture or". the closet bowl is simplided, the rislr of loss inthe various stages of manufacture is materially reduced, and the amountof labor required isA less than required for the manufacture of priorart siphon jet bowls.v

While a particular arrangement or the punchings or passages in the rimhave been described as being disposed aty definite angles to thehorizontal, it will be appreciated, and it is to be understoood, thatthese angles may be varied and that the grouping and spacing thereof maybe arranged to suit particular requirements.

Having described what now appears to be a preferred form of theinvention, it is to be understood that various modifications and changesmay be made in the method of flushing and in the construction oi thebowl without departing either from the spirit or the scope of theinvention. Therefore, it is desired that only such limitations shall beplaced on the invention as are imposed by the prior art and the appendedclaims. i

I claim:

l. The method of ushing a closet bowl of the Siphon type, which consistsin So delivering flushing water to the rim of the'bowl as to cause suchwater to travel in a sheet over the inner surface of the bowl and in aspiral direction toward the trap of the bowl, directing a portion ofsuch water from the rim into the trap to create an undercurrent in theSiphon and initiate siphonic action, and in obstructing such spiral flowand directing it substantially radially into the trap of the bowl.

2. The method of iiushing the pan of closet bowls of the Siphon type toremove. fecal matter, that comprises introducing jets of flush water atpredetermined points around the periphery of the top of the pan anddirecting such jets downwardly at an angle against the surface of thepan so as to impart a downward spiral motion to the water,simultaneously directing jets of Water from the top of the pan into theSiphon to establish an under-current in the up-leg of the Siphon andinitiate siphonic action, directing jets of Water down the pan inadvance of the Siphon action producing jets for obstructing the spirallymoving water, and deflecting substantially all of such water into thetrap to accentuate and maintain the siphonic action to eiect a removalof all fecal contents from the bowl.

3. The method of flushing a closet bowl of the Siphon type, thatcomprises supplying water to the rim of the bowl at a higher rate thanit is discharged therefrom, initiating Siphonic action by dischargingstreams of water from the rim into the trap in such fashion as to createan undercurrent in the up-leg of the Siphon, causing a major portion ofthe water to ow from the rim as a sheet in a Spiral direction around'thebowl and downwardly towards the trap, and obstructing the spirallymoving sheet at the front of the bowl by delivering jets from the rimthat intersect the sheet of water so as to thereby cause substantiallyall of the water delivered to the bowl to be dumped into the trap on topof fecal matter therein and complete the flushing of the bowl.

4. The method of flushing a closet bowl having a trap and a Siphonadapted to connect the trap to a soil line that comprises deliveringjets ofilush water from the rim of the bowl at an angle less than 96 tothe horizontal against the surface oi' the pan so asto cause theformation of a funnel-like whirling body of water having its vortex inthe trap, thereby to collect fecal matter into the vortex,simultaneously delivering jets from the rim and guiding them into thetrap to eect an under-current in the Siphon and initiate siphonic actionand then in obstructing such whirling body of water at a point adjacentto but in advance of the siphonic action producingv jets by deliveringjets of water straight down the pan so as to cause the whirling body ofwater to accummulate at the obstruction, change its course and dump intothe trap on top of the vortex to complete the ushing operation.

llo

. 5.Y A closet bowl having a trap and a Siphon bowl surface and aplurality of openings for directing streams of water in a direction toobstruct the whirling sheet of water at a point in advance of theopening from which the siphonic action producing streams issue.

6. A closet bowl of the Siphon type having a continuous hollow rim towhich 'water is admitted, said rim having two groups of openings, inwhich the openings of one of said groups are arranged to deliver streamsof water down the bowl into the up-leg of the siphon and down the bowlto one side of the trap, the streams directed into the siphon up-leginitiating siphonic action, the openings of the other group beingangularly inclined in the same general direction around the rim forcreating a swirling sheet of water that travels spirally and downwardlyin the bowl, said sheet of water being obstructed by the streamsdirected down to the bowl to one side of the trap and caused to spill asa body into the trap to complete the ushing action.

7, A 'closet bowl of the siphon type having a continuous hollow rim towhich water is admitted, said rim having two groups of openings, inwhich the openings of one of said groups are arranged to deliver streamsof water down the bowl into the up-leg of the lSiphon and down the bowlto one side of the trap, the streams directed into the siphon up-leginitiating siphonic action, means for positively guiding the streamswhich initiate siphonic action into the Siphon up-leg and in which theopenings of the other group are angularly inclined in the same generaldirection around the rim for creating a swirling sheet of water thattravels spirally and downwardly in the bowl, said sheet of water beingobstructed by the streams directed down the bowl to one side of the trapand caused to spill as abody into the trap to complete the flushingaction. 8. A closet bowl of the siphon type having a continuous hollowrim into which all ush water is delivered, and a. groove on the pansurface running from the rim to the trap and located on a side of thebowl opposite to that in which the siphon is contained, said rim havinga plurality of openings positioned to deliver jets of Water down thegroove and into the siphon upleg to initiate siphonic action and aplurality of openings disposed on one side of said groove for deliveringstreams of Water down the pan in a direction parallel to the groove,said rim also having a group of angularly inclined openings spacedaround the rim for creating a swirling sheet of Water that travels in aspiral direction Atowards the streams of water that run parallel and toone side of the groove, said parallel streams obstructing the spirallymoving sheet of water and dumping it as a body into the trap to completethe ushing operation.

9. The method of flushing a closet bowl of the siphonic action type thatcomprises delivering a quantity of ushing water to the rim of said bowl,initiating siphonic action by directing a portion of such flushing waterfrom the rim directly down the pan and into the up-leg of the siphonwhile so directing the remainder of such Water as to form a swirlingspirally traveling mass over the pan of said bowl, and then collectingsuch swirling mass of water at a point substantially opposite to and inline with the up-leg and dumping the same directly into the trap tocomplete the flushing action.

GEORGE BRAIN.

